I adopted Jose (J.O.) Berrios. He is widely considered the Twin's # 5-7 prospect and among the top 2-3 of their pitching prospects. He was drafted 32nd overall in 2012 out of Bayamon, Puerto Rico. 2013 was his first full year above rookie ball and he pitched well after throwing up gaudy numbers in rookie ball. He will start this year at high A in Ft. Meyers. He will turn 20 in May.

I'm not going to be able to write up any quick recap of Berrios better than Aaaron Gleeman, so I'm going to put down his take (from www.aarongleeman.com) :"5. Jose Berrios | Starter | DOB: 5/94 | Throws: Right | Draft: 2012-1

YEAR LV G GS ERA IP H HR SO BB2012 RK- 8 1 1.08 16.2 7 0 27 3 RK+ 3 3 1.29 14.0 8 1 22 12013 A- 19 19 3.99 103.2 105 6 100 40[FONT=Verdana]Selected out of a Puerto Rico high school 30 picks after Byron Buxton in the 2012 draft, Jose Berrios had a great rookie-ball debut and then made the jump to full-season competition last year at low Single-A. While his 3.99 ERA and .265 opponents' batting average were unimpressive, Berrios struck out 100 batters in 104 innings and allowed just six homers while being one of only eight teenagers in the Midwest League to log at least 100 innings.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana]Obviously it would be ideal to see Berrios overpowering hitters in the low minors, but missing plenty of bats and holding his own overall as a teenager is a very good sign. Berrios throws hard and receives praise for his off-speed stuff, but like most 19-year-olds his control needs work and one potential red flag is that he's been a fly-ball pitcher. That tendency usually gets more extreme further up the organizational ladder, so it'll be something to keep an eye on.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana]Berrios is a slight 6-foot-1 and so far the Twins have been cautious with his workload by limiting his starts in-season and convincing him to skip winter ball, but he'll likely be given a longer leash this year at high Single-A. He tends to get lost in the shuffle of what has become a stacked deck of Twins prospects, but in some recent years Berrios would have been the team's top pitching prospect and his long-term upside is substantial. "[/FONT]

Ft. Meyers starts their season tomorrow. I'll write up news as it happens and post recaps of his starts.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6967[/ATTACH]I adopted Jose (J.O.) Berrios. He is widely considered the Twin's # 5-7 prospect and among the top 2-3 of their pitching prospects. He was drafted 32nd overall in 2012 out of Bayamon, Puerto Rico. 2013 was his first full year above rookie ball and he pitched well after throwing up gaudy numbers in rookie ball. He will start this year at high A in Ft. Meyers. He will turn 20 in May.

I'm not going to be able to write up any quick recap of Berrios better than Aaaron Gleeman, so I'm going to put down his take (from www.aarongleeman.com) :"5. Jose Berrios | Starter | DOB: 5/94 | Throws: Right | Draft: 2012-1

YEAR LV G GS ERA IP H HR SO BB2012 RK- 8 1 1.08 16.2 7 0 27 3RK+ 3 3 1.29 14.0 8 1 22 12013 A- 19 19 3.99 103.2 105 6 100 40[FONT=Verdana]Selected out of a Puerto Rico high school 30 picks after Byron Buxton in the 2012 draft, Jose Berrios had a great rookie-ball debut and then made the jump to full-season competition last year at low Single-A. While his 3.99 ERA and .265 opponents' batting average were unimpressive, Berrios struck out 100 batters in 104 innings and allowed just six homers while being one of only eight teenagers in the Midwest League to log at least 100 innings.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana]Obviously it would be ideal to see Berrios overpowering hitters in the low minors, but missing plenty of bats and holding his own overall as a teenager is a very good sign. Berrios throws hard and receives praise for his off-speed stuff, but like most 19-year-olds his control needs work and one potential red flag is that he's been a fly-ball pitcher. That tendency usually gets more extreme further up the organizational ladder, so it'll be something to keep an eye on.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana]Berrios is a slight 6-foot-1 and so far the Twins have been cautious with his workload by limiting his starts in-season and convincing him to skip winter ball, but he'll likely be given a longer leash this year at high Single-A. He tends to get lost in the shuffle of what has become a stacked deck of Twins prospects, but in some recent years Berrios would have been the team's top pitching prospect and his long-term upside is substantial. "[/FONT]

Ft. Meyers starts their season tomorrow. I'll write up news as it happens and post recaps of his starts.

I heard rumblings that Berrios may have grown, is that the 6'1 versus 6'0 or has he grown taller than that?

If Berrios can hold his own as a 19 year old in the FSL he is going to be a top 30 prospect heading into next year.
Along with AB Walker, Berrios is the 'spec that I'll be watching most closely this year.

Berrios had his second start of the year for Ft. Myers yesterday. He went 6 innings, with 6 hits, 3 runs (all earned), 2 walks, 5 K's. In his 2 starts so far this year, he has a 3.75 ERA and 0.917 WHIP in 12 innings of work.

Heckuva performance. He's one of the top pitchers in A+ despite being 3 years younger than the competition. Pretty cool. He could be up at AA sometime this year if this continues for a few more starts.